Does anyone have a teen who wants to change their gender?
WHat are peoples thoughts on the subject?
To speak the truth is true compassion.
True gender is biological and spiritual reality determined by God. Long before one is born, God individually crafts the soul to be who they are. There are then differences in which sex hormones affect the unborn baby causing irreversible differences between the bodies of males and females. And every cell of one's body indicates whether they are male or female. The idea that gender is driven by choice is delusion, rebellion against God and self-hatred inspired by Satan. To encourage people, especially young people, to so-called "transition" (in quotes because really you can't change your soul or every cell of your body), is to encourage their destruction. Really, gender transition is a type of suicide.
We do need to keep in mind though, that there can be birth defects, both physical and spiritual which complicates the issue, and therefore we need to have a proper amount of compassion and understanding of a person's situation. For example, a person may have a y-chromosome with a defective SRY gene, which then produces a baby that appears to be female until a genetic test is done. Other times the sex organs aren't definitively male or female. And God showed a friend of mine that her son who wants to be a female was spiritually damaged by the spiritual environment he had in utero because of where her spirit had been at the time of her pregnancy.
These conditions don't make the person immune to sinful choices about their sexuality, but they can certainly blur the issue from being easily judged justly, especially by outsiders. We should never lose sight, though, of the fact that rejecting God's design is sinful no matter how hard a pure walk is for someone. The fact is that we all have something like that that keeps us from being perfect, and that is why we ALL need a savior in Jesus. For example, I have never struggled with gender dysphoria but I do struggle with pride. I am just as much in need of a savior.
Salvation, though, requires recognition of our fallen state and a desperation to be restored to original intent - that is the repentance of salvation. One cannot both willfully walk in their current fallen state AND receive salvation.
And for us outsiders, that means encouraging the one suffering from gender dysphoria to align with the truth of who God made them to be rather than encouraging them to go along with a destructive and rebellious lie. I'm sure that many or even most proponents of gender transition mean well, but really their love is insufficient if they aren't willing to speak the hard truths at the appropriate times. We know from 1st Corinthians 13 that love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.